Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have initiated discussions to collaborate on iron ore extraction and steel production. The talks were held during the recent Resourcing Tomorrow event at the Mines and Money Expo in London, where Nigeria's Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, and Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy, Khalid Al-Musdaifer, explored plans to process iron ore into steel within Nigeria.
Alake emphasized the potential for value-added exports from Nigeria, which could yield better prices than raw ore. In response, Al-Musdaifer expressed Saudi Arabia's interest in sourcing iron ore for its steel industry and indicated that the Saudi government would consider Nigeria's proposal for developing a domestic downstream value chain. A follow-up meeting is scheduled for January 2025 in Riyadh during the Future Metals Forum.